CHAI NAT - The government's move to encourage farmers in 35 central provinces to grow maize instead of rice by giving them an interest rate subsidy is impracticable, according to a leading member of the provincial farmers assembly
Chaliew Noisaeng said he has grown rice all his life and saw the government’s latest measure as not being workable.
Other crops proposed for growing in areas suitable for rice farming would not give good yields. Soil conditions in paddy fields were not suitable for maize or other crops recommended by the government, he said.
On Tuesday, the cabinet approved allocation of 8 billion baht in subsidies for soft loans to encourage farmers in 35 provinces in the Central Plains to grow maize instead of rice during the off season.
The scheme aims to prod farmers in those provinces to grow maize on 2 million rai.
According to Nathaporn Chatusripitak, an adviser to Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn, participating farmers will be offered loans via the Bank for Agriculture and Agriculture Cooperatives at an interest rate of 4%. The government will subsidise the loan with an additional 3% interest to the bank.
The Chai Nat farmers' leader said the government should provide grants to farmers at a rate of 3,000 baht per rai if it really wanted them to stop planting rice. Encouraging farmers to grow alternative crops would put them at risk of incurring losses, said Mr Chaliew.
“Over the past years, farmers had responded positively to government policies. They have grown maize, Crotalaria juncea [brown hemp or sunn hemp] or beans, but those crops did not grow well in soil suited for rice. Corn and beans did not give yields, and farmers suffered losses,’’ he said.
The government should ascertain the views of farmers, or listen to their problems before implementing any policies, the Chai Nat farmers’ leader said.